A
group of prehistoric of standing stones or megaliths located in the Cotsworlds
in England. They are thought to be connected to pagan rituals and in popular
legend with a witch. They are estimated to be older than Stonehenge,
and are located between Chipping Norton and Long Compton. They stand on
a high, windy ridge overlooking the latter. This area has a long history
of witchcraft activities.

The legend of the stones is that once an unnamed Danish king and his
army came to invade England. At Rollright they met a witch and the king
sought her to use her supernatural vision to foretell whether he would conquer
England. The witch told him, if he took seven strides to the top of the
ridge and could see the village of Long Compton below he would become king
of England.

The king followed the witch's instructions and took seven steps to the
top of the ridge. When reaching his destination he found his view blocked
by a barrow. Suddenly the witch cried:

Sink down man, and rise up stone!
King of England thou shalt be none.

Suddenly the king and all of his men turned to stone.

The king became the solitary King Stone. His men formed a cromlech, or
circle, nearby and are called the King's Men.

The witch intended to change herself into an elder tree, but before doing
so she went back to four of the king's knights who had lingered behind.
They had been whispering and plotting the king. She also turned them into
stone, and today they are called the Whispering Knights. Originally there
were eleven King's Men, but over time some have been broken. The cromlech
measured 100 feet across.

The stones are believed to be of the Bronze Age . The Whispering Knights
are thought to form some sort of a burial ground.

According to another legend at midnight the stones turn into men again.
They join hands and dance around. Anyone unfortunate enough to see them
goes insane or dies.

Later in the 18th. century village maidens on Midsummer's Eve would go
out by the Whispering Knights hoping to hear whispers of their future and
fate. Until the middle of the 20th. century witches held meeting and sabbats
at the Rollright Stones. However, in 1945 a sacrificial killing was supposed
to have occurred there. Soon the local people became suspicious of the meetings
being held there, and finally in 1949 the witches were forced to meet elsewhere.

An interesting note is that a person practicing psychometry
investigated the Rollright Stones and claimed to have found important information
of ancient pagan rituals once practiced there. A.G.H.